VISA update

"No, no we aren't going to be giving you our credit card balance, that's another kind of VISA. We just wanted to let you know how things are going with our visa to stay and work in Angola. As some of you know this seems to be a never ending process and therefore prayer request. At this point in time our present work visa expired on the 8th of December. We have been working on getting a residency visa since the beginning of June, and have just received news that the process has been cleared through the Angolan embassy in Ottawa and is en route back to Angola for approval by immigration in Luanda. This is fantastic news..."

That is how the last update that I started at the end of November ended without me having sent it out to all of you. Since that day we indeed had to leave Angola for Namibia where we have been "patiently" waiting for an "Ordinary Visa" to re enter Angola. Due to the complications of the Christmas season and the hosting of the African football (soccer) championships in Angola in January,our visa renewals have been somewhat delayed. Although it is difficult not to feel that our time in Namibia has not been a complete waste, we know that God can use whatever situation we are in for His honour and glory. We have had lots of time to think about the amazing ways that God has blessed us through family, friends, supporters and even complete strangers. We have been reminded in many ways that our time here on this earth isn't about ourselves, but it is about glorifying our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

It looks like we should be seeing our passports with visas in the next couple weeks. At this point our passports are back in Canada and we are just waiting for one more document for Matt's visa, which we hope to have in the next couple days. Once that one is issued our passports will go into the Angolan Embassy in Ottawa for a few days and then, Lord willing, they will be sent back to us in Namibia, with and Angolan visa. Hopefully we will have them in our hands somewhere around the 15th of February. This by no means is a done deal, please continue to pray for the process and all the people that are involved in it and in the end that God will be glorified no matter what the outcome.

News

You have no idea how many times I have started this update and then deleted it because it wasn't up to the journalistic standards that you have all come to expect. In fact the other day I had finally written a little blogging masterpiece only to have it disappear into the blogasphere never to return. It was truly a triumph of humour, emotion and information all packed into one easily readable paragraph and it was gone, snatched away in it's prime. Can you tell I'm still a little bitter?

Anyways, what we really want to share is not about us or my petty little blogging problems. It is something much more important and miraculous! Something that is beyond the pale, something that will stupefy and amaze you! Something that is making you say, "Get on with it man, spit it out, enough with the monumental amounts of hyperbole!" Fine I say, I will succumb to your pestering and bullying and announce that we have an announcement! We, being Tammy and myself, are entering a new phase of life. We are going to be grandparents. There, I said it! Our daughter Kait and her husband Richard have informed us that we will be entering the world of grandparenthood next year, sometime around the end of April. Is that amazing or what!? Sometimes I think this is even nuttier then when we had our own kids. I mean, I didn't have a clue at all about what I was getting into then and now I'm sure I have absolutely no idea! Although we have been able to spend a significant amount of time amusing ourselves with what the little gaffer is going to call Tammy. I mean there are some really great possibilities, none of which I am allowed to share.

Tammy and Matthew will be heading back to Canada in mid-April to welcome this little bundle into the world. At this point we are not sure when I will return, but we are hoping no later then the beginning of June. We are excited about this new addition and look forward to making sure it gets properly enculturated into all things Goertzen!

On the road again...

We asked Josh what he wanted to do for a last family holiday with us. That could be considered a mistake because we ended up making a trip that covered almost 7000km in our little Toyota pick up. It was amazing, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the memories will be with us forever! Thanks Josh!

The first of five flat tires. This one outside of Okahandja, Namibia.

I hope this one doesn't need an explanation.
We crossed it just south of Windhoek, Namibia.
Yes, it was cold.
You think the roads are straight and flat in Saskatchewan, eh!?
This is somewhere between Keetmanshoop, Namibia and Upington, South Africa.

The Indian Ocean at Plettenberg Bay, South Africa.
Errr...yes it was cold...

Matthew feeling big and powerful.

The whole reason we came to South Africa.
To wear funny belts and have a picture taken with a complete stranger.

Actually, it was to fling ourselves off the world's highest bungy jump.
216m or 710feet
YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO.........

Another 2000km of mind numbingly straight, flat road on the way back home.

This is a section of the main highway in Angola between Xangongo and Cahama. The camera is eye level with the top of the road. The "potholes" are even with the top of the tires and the entire truck fits inside.

It was a great idea Josh and I would do it again in a minute. Anyone want to join us?

The last two days of the drive home were without Josh, we left him in Windhoek with our good friend Brent Mudde, who was also flying back to Canada for his holidays. After drying up my tears and the 18 hugs later, we drove off, heading for home and Josh heading to the airport. A few hours into the drive I was thinking about the year ahead, planning it out in my mind - if you know me, then you know that I thrive on making plans....and changing them...I started thinking about the preparations that we needed to start making for our trip back to Canada next year. Then it hit me, Matt will have his 18th birthday while we are in Canada, that he might not want to return to Angola with us after the six month furlough is over. The tears started rolling down my cheeks again, thinking about life without any kids in the house. I got a terrible paniky feeling in my heart, I have very rarely been alone in my 44 years and I really really don't like it - at all. This coming week will be my first real test, Matt is out at the farm and Gary will be flying around the countryside for the next 10 days. I know that this is part of life, to have and to let go. I praise God that our kids are healthy and happy and have a passionate heart for the Lord. I am looking forward to this new chapter in my life, to see how God is going to fill my time.
oh, and for the record, at this point and time in life, Matt promises that he has no plans to ever leave Angola....

Desminagem

I just returned from a week of flying in the interior, part of which time was spent with the guys from HALO Trust. HALO is an Non Government Organization that works at removing land mines and other explosives left over from Angola's wars. The area that we visited was a place called Cuito Cuanavale where the largest battle in Africa was fought, other than during World War 2. Tens of thousands of mines were laid in fields that cover almost 100 kilometres in length. Daily, the residents of Cuito Cuanavale thread their way through the mine fields to get to their fields of manioc and corn. The danger is extreme to say the least and illustrates the risks that people are willing to take to in order to provide for their families. Every day the workers from HALO head out to remove these weapons of destruction to make things safe again.

Kitted out to go into the mine field.

Don't cross the line of red stakes.

Every square inch of the mine field must be checked, by hand.

I know it is hard to see, but at the centre of the staked area a metal rod is sticking out of the ground. It is attached to what is in the following picture.

Every three metres there is an anti tank mine.
Behind the anti tank mines is a row of anti personnel mines.

Each taped off square contains an anti tank mine, when a sufficiently large area has had all the mines identified, they will be exploded in place.

Your support directly affects the lives of the people of Angola.
Thank you for supporting MAF.

"Desminagem" means de-mining in Portuguese.

Exhaustion

Well, maybe the title is a little overly dramatic, but the last month and a bit has been pretty hectic. Since our other pilot Brent is still waiting to get his residency visa I, Gary, have been doing all the flying. Which is great, but I must admit I am a little tired trying to keep up with all the other daily things that need to be done as well. Since the last time we chatted I have been to Windhoek in Namibia, twice. Kalukembe, six times, Mukwando, three times, Luanda, twice, Ngiva, Cuvelai, Xangongo, Menongue and Chinhama. Now I realize that most of these places don't really mean a whole lot, but it means I have been away a lot and Tammy has had to hold down the fort on her own quite a bit.Speaking of Tammy, lots of you are aware that she has been fighting malaria off and on for the last year or so. It turns out, after we got some tests in Namibia, that she has never had malaria! Not once, ever?! Go figure. Most likely she had a virus of some sort that was misdiagnosed and then mistreated here in Lubango. Fortunately she is feeling much better now and is back in action. 

Most of the flying has been moving medical teams around as well as doing flights for USAID as they do a survey of the flooded areas of southern Angola. A significant part of southern Angola is under water for the second year in a row. This part of the country is known for its' lack of water, so to have flooding two years in a row is devastating. The real disaster is that there will again be no crops to harvest this year. The disaster is coming when last years food add runs out in the next few months. Please pray as we look to help this region of the

country.

I am always amazed as I get to accompany medical teams and see them share the love of Christ as they bring health care to some of the six million people in Angola who have no access to any medical care of any sort. It is heart breaking to see people suffering from simple injuries that turn life threatening, all because there is no health care. We are privileged to be connected with a group of doctors here in Angola and Canada that are giving of their time, energy and money to make a difference for the people of Angola.

Again we cannot thank all of you enough for your prayers and support. You have literally brought sight to the blind, strength to the weak and the ability to walk to the lame, and above all that the gospel.

A view from our house

Sunset in Lubango from our house

Sunrise over southern Angola. 

A Tale of Two Cities

I realize with a title like that I should have a Dickensonian beginning, but alas the only thing similar between this blog and that piece of classic literature is the fact that we both claim to use the english language as our means communication.
The last few weeks have seen me winging around the country, but unable to take any pictures to complement those stories for this particular post. So unfortunately you will have to use your imaginations to add life to the experiences I am going to attempt to describe for you. The first experience takes place in Luanda, the capital of Angola, where I must go every six months to complete my aviation physical. Actually at this point we are probably all grateful that there are no pictures! I thought I would give you an idea of the length of time involved to complete this. There is only one clinic in Angola that can do aviation medicals and every pilot, mechanic and stewardess must have one of these done either once every six months or once a year. Plus they only do these medicals on Tuesdays and Thursdays and you need to be at the clinic by no later then 7:00am. This means I need to fly up to Luanda the day before so that we can leave our base in Luanda by no later than 5:30am so that we arrive at the clinic on time. It's not that the distance is long,it's just that the traffic is horrendous. Anyways, for some strange reason the traffic was light and we arrived early.

1. 5:00am depart from compound
2. 6:00am arrive clinic
3. 6:30am complete paper work and pay $600.00USD for medical
4. 7:00am lab work- 5 minutes
5. 8:40am ECG, Blood pressure and weight- 10 minutes
6. 9:00am Hearing test- 10 minutes
7. 10:00am Dentist- 10 minutes...need cleaning
8. 10:25am X-ray- 5 minutes
9. 12:30pm Eye exam- 10 minutes
10. 1:00pm Final chat and approval by Doctor
11. 1:15pm Call for our administrator to pick me up
12. 3:00pm Admin. arrives. Traffic is horrible
13. 5:00pm Arrive back at compound

Everyone at the clinic is nice, things just take a while to get done. The next day I am up at 4:00am so that we can make the 5:00am checkin for the 7:30am flight back to Lubango. Mission accomplished for the next six months.

I have decided that this post is long enough, so I will share about the second experience in a different city at a later date. Until then, keep your stick on the ice.